Technological Levels, Technological Transfer, and Cooperation for Development

Abstract

Transfer of Technology (TT), the article first presents a series of reflections concerning the connection between technology and people both within the individual as well as the collective sphere. The paper then outlines points for debate regarding the inherentcharacteristics of the technologies themselves that should be kept in consideration in any TT design, whose ultimate aim is utility and sustainability. Next, the author describes the agents and mechanisms that are active in TT from the North. Based on examples of TT programs as implemented by the EU and Spain, its is shown that the processes of TT are in a state of rapid innovation, and that technology is prioritized, subsidized and favored in the rich world by these agents and mechanisms. Due cause arises, though, to question the content and models of TT from the point of view of the South. This paper underscores the role that Cooperation for Developmentcan play in the TT process by way of describing the actors involved in the South, analyzing the impacts of determined technologies and their constrained accessibility, and sketching the major guidelines that ought to be stressed to favor balanced, sustainable development.